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Fearless Argo Chad Owens runs for his life

Toronto Argonauts wide receiver and kick returner Chad Owens, left, reacts to the camera after scoring a touchdown against the Edmonton Eskimos during first half CFL Eastern Conference semi final football action in Toronto on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012.Photo: Nathan Denette, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Toronto — It is all a blur, says Chad Owens. You get the ball and you get going.

You don’t pause to think about what route you are taking or where opposing players are coming from. You just keep your legs moving until someone stops you or you reach the end zone.

Then you stop and wonder how it was that you escaped with your life.

“For me personally, it’s one shot,” said Owens, who was named special teams player of the week after his 59-yard punt return in Sunday’s 42-26 win in the East semifinal against the Edmonton Eskimos sparked a 31-point second quarter for the Toronto Argonauts.

“You never know when your last play is. It’s playoffs. You lose and you go home, so you don’t want to have that regret of not taking advantage of every opportunity, not taking advantage of that play.” Returning a punt is at the same time the most thrilling and most dangerous part of a football game. It takes a certain amount of fearlessness to run against the current, but also an equal amount of faith. Owens, the league’s top special teams player in 2010 and the East’s outstanding player nominee this year, is only five-foot-eight and 180 pounds. He has to believe that his teammates are doing their jobs and blocking the players who want to tackle and hurt him. If not, he might not get up.

“You just have to trust,” Owens said. “When I hesitate, it’s maybe when we’re having a game where guys are not having their best game. It takes a huge amount of trust.”

Taking the ball just behind midfield Sunday, Owens looked like he trusted both his teammates and his instincts as he cut a path up the field like a pizza-shaped Pac-Man, juking left and right to wrong-footed opponents. He was just steps away from the end zone, when a hand grabbed onto his foot, but Owens managed to wiggle free for his first punt-return touchdown of the season.

“There was an extra burst there at the end. He just wasn’t going to be denied,” Argos head coach Scott Milanovich said. “Chad’s a gamer — he understands the stage.”

Certainly, Owens understands the opportunity he has been given. Three years ago he was an out-of-focus nobody with the Montreal Alouettes, who was stuck on the practice roster of an established team. He celebrated a Grey Cup in 2009, but he did so as a spectator.

This weekend, when he heads back to Montreal for the East final, Owens is the star. As a punt and kickoff returner, he led the league with 2,510 combined return yards. As a receiver, he led the league with 1,328 receiving yards and set a record with 3,863 all-purpose yards.

By all accounts, this should make him confident, if not cocky, facing his old team. But Owens understands that as fast as he is on the field, there are times when he still has to wait for his blocks.

“When I was in Montreal, it was tough,” he said. “It was a tough roster to crack, especially with the receiving corps. It was nothing they didn’t see. But they had won Grey Cups, they had been to Grey Cups with that unit. It’s kind of like us now.

“I’m looking at guys on our roster now, like Quincy Hurst, Julien [Feoli-Gudino] and guys who can play, but they’re waiting in the wings. That’s the thing about this league. It takes opportunity to make an impact. That’s why I just feel so fortunate and blessed that I got that opportunity here.”

Owens, who caught 46 passes in 2010 and 70 in 2011, wrapped his hands around the ball 94 times as Ricky Ray’s No. 1 option this year. With two more wins, he could be wrapping his hands around a Grey Cup — one that he actually helped to win.

“I don’t see those things,” Owens said. “Like I said, all I see is a blur and I’m just trying to pick my way through things and get there.”